Dark matter claims thrown into doubt by new data

PREVIOUS claims that dark matter had been detected are being called into doubt following a new experiment’s failure to spot any of the elusive particles.

For years, scientists running the DAMA experiment beneath a mountain in Italy have detected flashes of light in a sodium iodide target that they say are caused by interactions with dark matter. And in December 2009, the CDMS-II detector, housed in a mine in Minnesota, found two possible dark-matter-particle impacts in germanium and silicon targets.

Now an experiment called Xenon 100 has failed to detect the impact of any dark matter particles, casting doubt on the earlier results.

An experiment called Xenon 100 has failed to detect the impact of any dark matter particles

Like DAMA, it is located in the underground Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy. But its target is made of liquid xenon, which has a high density that its designers say maximises the chances that a dark matter particle will collide with it.

DAMA spokeswoman Rita Bernabei insists the new finding has no bearing on DAMA’s findings because the experiments use different target materials.

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